Dairyland Power Cooperative recently rebuilt a 161 kV transmission line within the Black River floodplain in La Crosse County, WI. To minimize impacts to floodplain wetlands and waterways and state-threatened wood turtle and state-endangered and federally-proposed eastern massasauga rattlesnake, we implemented a mitigation and conservation plan that included low-pressure amphibious utility vehicles, small helicopters, a large heavy-lift air crane heli
SBSTTA 26 Biosafety AI’s. A policy perspective. Jens Warrie.
Avoiding and minimizing wetland and wildlife impacts in the Van Loon Bottoms during powerline construction
1. Avoiding and Minimizing
Wetland and Wildlife Impacts
in the Van Loon Bottoms
During Powerline Construction
Sara Viernum, Wildlife Biologist
2. Project Description
• Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC)
• Not-for-profit Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative
• Rural Electrification in four states – WI, MN, IA, IL
• Headquarter La Crosse, WI
• Regional Touchstone Energy Cooperative Partner
3. Project Description
• Rebuilt 161 kilovolt (kV) Electric Transmission Line
• Transmission line was built in 1950; 65 years old
• Need of rebuild
• Old structures
• Power and fiber optic outages due to failing structures
Original Structure
4. Project Description
• Rebuilt 161 kV Electric Transmission Line
• Fall 2015
• 13 miles total
• 3 miles within Van Loon Bottoms
– Black River floodplain in La Crosse County
– 0.9 miles USFWS Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
– 0.3 miles WDNR Van Loon Wildlife Area
– 1.8 miles private lands
8. Mitigation and Conservation
• DPC, AECOM, Stantec, USFWS, and WDNR
• Project-specific Mitigation and Conservation Plan
• Incidental Take Permit
• Eastern massasauga
• Wood Turtle
• Avoidance
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Bell’s Vireo
• Cerulean Warbler
9. Mitigation and Conservation
• Based on:
• Desktop reviews of recent aerial photography
• Discussions with USFWS and WDNR
• Habitat observations from previous field visits
• Alternative analyses –
• Relocating to CapX Project
• Three alternative routes
– Hwy 35 Route
– Seven Bridges Route
– Galesville Route
» Impacted more residences
» Increased line length
» Substantially more costly
» Greater environmental impacts
10. Wetland Mitigation
• Wetland Impact Minimizations
• Amphibious UTVs
• Foot Travel
• Helicopters
• Temporary Matting
• Around new structures only
• No transmission structures placed in waterbodies
• Impact monitoring by onsite Stantec Environmental Inspector,
WDNR Biologists, and USFWS Biologists
11. Wetland Mitigation
• Foot Travel
• Minimize soil disturbance and compaction
• Amphibious UTVs
• Argo, Hydratrek, and Marsh Master
• Transport personnel and small equipment
• Low ground pressure rubber tracks or tires
• Minimize soil disturbance and compaction
– Limited traffic in ROW to single access paths
up to 12ft wide
15. Wetland Mitigation
• Impacts
• Permanent
• Approx. 0.01 acres for new structures
• Temporary
• Approx. up to 0.3 acres for new structure matting
• Approx. up to 5 acres for access routes
16. Wetland Mitigation
• DPC Long-term Maintenance
• Conduct a ground inspection
• Restore all areas of temporary disturbance to pre-existing or
improved habitat conditions
• Every 5 years
• Prepare and implement Vegetation Management Work Plans with
USFWS and WDNR
17. Species Conservation
• Avoidance
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Bell’s Vireo
• Cerulean Warbler
• Construction activities conducted after August 15 avoided breeding
season
18. Species Conservation
• Onsite Monitoring
• Eastern Massasauga
• Wood Turtle
• Up to two onsite Stantec Biologists
― Trained to handle and relocate species to
nearby habitat
― Hold E/T permits for target species
― Equipped with snake tongs
― VES ahead of all construction activities
― Remain near crews at all times
― Monitored from construction start
September 1 until the start of WDNR
designated species inactive season
October 31
*note eastern gartersnake hence why
I’m free handling it
19. Species Conservation
• Impacts
• No massasaugas or wood turtles observed during monitoring
• DPC Long-term Maintenance
• Conduct an updated endangered resources review within one
year
20. Species Conservation
• Additional Wildlife Sightings
• Northern Leopard Frogs
• Green Frogs
• Blue-spotted Salamanders
• Eastern Gartersnakes
• Midland Brownsnakes
• Northern Watersnakes
• Blanding's Turtle
• Snapping Turtle
• Midland Painted Turtles
• Bald Eagles
• Mink
• Wolf prints
• White-tailed Deer